My upbringing in Northern Minnesota instilled an appreciation of botany and a keen observation of patterns in the natural environment. Reflecting on my experiences in the Midwest, South America, and Europe, I seek to communicate a form of natural beauty.
I incorporate techniques from scenic painting and faux finishing, the folk art of Norwegian rosemaling, and reverse painting on glass. Observing these customary processes became a way for me to develop a personal aesthetic based on the necessity of good craftsmanship. Their established authority of geometry, harmony, and beauty speaks vibrantly.
See a great Essay Brochure at lower right, writing by Wayne Roosa and Ann Klefstad
EDUCATION
MFA in Painting/Drawing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 2017
BA, The College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN, 2012
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Boreal Ornament IV, Joseph Nease Gallery
2020 Boreal Ornament III, Joseph Nease Gallery (installed but halted by COVID) See online exhibition here
2019 Boreal Ornament II, Johnson Heritage Post Gallery - Grand Marais, MN
2018 Boreal Ornament, Morrison Gallery, Duluth Art Institute – Duluth, MN
2017 Mirror Lake, Kohler Art Library, University of WIsconsin-Madison – Madison, WI
Dusty Turquoise Waters – Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, Art Lofts Gallery – Madison, WI
2016 Windigo Piperita – Department of Art History Curatorial Lab – Madison, WI
Vicious Or•ka•id – Master of Arts Exhibition, Art Lofts Gallery – Madison, WI
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
A Warm Reset, Joseph Nease Gallery
2017
Winnowers, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
Cephalopod Interface, I Love You More, Cretaquarium, Crete, Greece
2016
Municipal, Municipal Building, Madison, WI
Arrowhead Biennial – Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN
Diverse Nature: Gender & the Botanic – Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, WI
Wallflowers – Tory Folliard Gallery – Milwaukee, WI
88th Annual Student Art Show – Gallery 1308, Madison, WI
2015
Madison 8– Foster Gallery, Eau Claire, WI
MFA Candidates – Capitol Lakes – Madison, WI
Holiday Art Underground – Betsey Bowen Studio – Grand Marais, MN
Separate Checks – Art Lofts – Madison, WI
2014
Found Out – Art Lofts – Madison, WI
2013
Papyiri– Prove Gallery- Duluth, MN
Water Works – Duluth Art Institute- Duluth, MN
COLLECTIONS
Wisconsin Union Art Collection – University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
ARTIST LECTURES
2018 Duluth Art Institute, Duluth, MN
2017 Kohler Arts Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
2016 Gallery Night Artist Talk, Overture Center for the Arts, Madison, WI
Capitol Lakes Artist Talk, Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, Madison, WI
2015 Madison 8 Artist Talk, Foster Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, WI
GRANTS & FELLOWSHIPS
2020 American-Scandinavian Foundation Fellowhip Award
2017 Vilas Research International Travel Grant, Univ of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
2017 & 2014 ED-GRS Fellowship, Univ of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
2017 Chazen Museum Prize Honorable Mention, Curator Brooke Davis Anderson,
Univ of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Dedalus Foundation Fellowship Nominee, Univ of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
On Back Tracks on KUMD radio 103.3 in Duluth, MN, Tara has a conversation with host Luke Moravec about her musical and artistic influence. Please give a listen here.
Also, Tara is an artist-in-residence in Grand Marais, MN through the North House Folk School located there. If you are in the area, please stop by for a studio visit.
We are very much looking forward to opening Tara Austin's solo exhibition late next month! This reprises, after Covid restrictions made her 2020 exhibition impossible to see, that exhibition with new work completed in the last two years.
Fox News paid us a visit during the Pandemic. Tara Austin's exhibition "Boreal Ornament III" was all ready to open on March 27, 2020, but the pandemic caused the gallery and many other related spaces to close.
Tara Austin will be exhibiting some new work up north in beautiful Grand Marais, MN in July at the Johnson Heritage Post gallery. Hope you can see it.
Tara will be having a solo show at JNG in March 2020.
